The Dill Pickle Co-Op's benefit concert goes down tomorrow night at the Av-Aerie, 2000 W. Fulton. Bands scheduled to perform include Reds and Blue, Pit er Pat, and Detholz. Things kick off at 8 p.m. and the cost is a suggested $15 donation. Professor Bruce Kraig of the Culinary Historians of Chicago will be at Kendall College Saturday morning hosting a seminar on "Changes in Food Consumption Patterns After the Civil War." The seminar......

For some people, the ultimate gift is something techy, like a Wii, an iPhone, or a GPS device. For us, it's a growler of beer, which we received over the holidays. The beer inside, "312." was nothing special. the growler, however, was refillable. It's the gift that keeps on giving, like a communicable disease. A couple weekends back we made the trip to Goose Island's Clybourn brew pub to trade in our empty for......

Grapevines, like everything else in nature, have a limited life span. The older a vine becomes, the less fruit it produces. But the fruit that these vines yield is bursting with flavor and character that like fruit from younger vines lack. It takes a patient winemaker to make a quality wine from this fruit. The Gnarly Head vineyard in Lodi, California is highly regarded for the quality of their old vine zinfandel. Before trellising......

Remember in Moulin Rouge when Ewan McGregor's character drinks some green liquid, the camera tilts to a canted angle, the crazy music starts playing, and you felt like maybe someone had slipped a hallucinogen into your popcorn? The green liquid, of course, was absinthe, and its purported psychoactive properties have been well extolled by the likes of Oscar Wilde, Outkast, and Johnny Depp. Known as the Green Fairy, absinthe is an anise-flavored (read: licorice) alcohol......

Va Pensiero in Evanston officially celebrates the return of wine director Jason Prah (most recently of Eno) with a tasting of eight "wines to survive winter." Prah will be on hand to present the wines and appetizers will be served. Cost is $35 per person, and the event starts at 7 p.m. The Alliance Francaise de Chicago has been offering a fair amount of cooking classes lately. Their class on Saturday will focus on......

For all you whiskey buffs out there, now you can vote on your favorite brands of the past year, as well as your favorite and most hated marketing campaigns, at the 2007 Drammies. The awards, created by the man behind the whiskey website Inebrio, celebrates the year in scotch, bourbon, rye, Irish, and blended whiskies. You can vote for best new product, most innovative product, best and worst marketing campaigns, and distiller of the year.......

Last weekend we had the opportunity to eat at the recently opened Takashi in Bucktown (we'll have a full review of that later this week). Normally when we frequent the chef-driven concepts we try to take a seat at the bar - when there is one - and watch the goings-on around us. Sometimes, the bar is where you find all the real action and, if you're lucky, find out the behind-the-scenes dirt. Chef Takashi......

Does it surprise anyone by now a lobby might donate money to a politician's campaign fund as a "favor" for supporting their special interest? If not, we can move on. What is shocking is the amount of money wine lobbies around the country throw at politicians around the country in the interest of passing laws geared toward "wholesale protection", tightening their grip on the three-tier distribution system. The Specialty Wine Retailers Association released a report......

Like a lot of you, we took advantage of yesterday's weather, donned some shorts and ate brunch (Vella). On the way home we decided to make a detour and taste some wines. The weekly tasting at Lush focused on the staff picks for 2007. Our favorite of the lot was a monster blended red from Twisted Oak Winery in Calaveras County, California. In a unique coincidence, we recently re-read Mark Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frog......

As the old saying goes, "Leave 'em wanting more." So we shall by wrapping up this "BotW" for 2006 on a high note, with the beer that we consider the best we've tasted this year. One of the biggest mistakes we made in 2007 was skipping Three Floyds Dark Lord Day in favor of risking possible food poisoning at Kiki D's Carnitas. That we did not come down with salmonella was of little solace, especially......

With the Bears' season over before it started, what better way to celebrate the end of the regular football season than remembering the good years (roughly 1985 to 1988) over a glass of vino? Well, here's your chance. Ex-Bears Coach Mike Ditka has partnered with the Mendocino Wine Company in California to create a line of premium wines that bear his name (get it? "Bear" his name?). The sparkling new South Loop Binny's at 1132......

During last week’s sleet storm we ducked into the South Loop Wine Cellar on the walk home from the Museum Campus. Half-frozen, soaked and more concerned with warming up than with finding a new shopping destination, we were pleasantly surprised by what we found inside. Warm, welcoming and filled with wine bins, exposed bricks and a beautiful Christmas tree, the store was the perfect place for us to stop. With all of the hype surrounding......

We get letters: Chuck, Please tell me you're going to review Christmas Ale from Great Lakes Brewing Co., it's pretty top notch! And pretty much sold out everywhere, the Binny's locale on 3000 N. Clark told me on Monday that I'd purchase their last case. Any way it's a nice beer if you can get it! Cheers, Chris Sauve Although it's rare that we take requests, we were fortunate that we didn't have to travel......

Bin 36 hosted their annual Bubbles Bash last night where 450 revelers ate and drank, then drank ome more, to their heart’s delight. Champagne, cava, prosecco, sekt, and sparklers from a full range of countries flowed for hours making a dark and drizzly Wednesday night into a scintillating celebration of friends, flavors, and holiday festivities. It’s amazing what a little CO2 can do! Buy it. Sip it. Gift it. Make chocolate champagne truffles out of......

The new Connoisseur Wine Co. at 1041 W. Grand is ready for its close-up. They're celebrating by offering customers who RSVP this weekend complimentary champagne, appetizers, and classic martinis. Efrain Cuevas' last dinner of 2007 features the waterfowl organ delicacy whose name we dare not speak within the city limits. Get on the list if you want to find out more. The Chicago Cultural Center is the setting for "A Winter's Song Madrigal Dinner,"......

A couple years back we visited the realm of good winter beers. It could be said that it was one of these posts that was the genesis of the "BotW" series. But we can't remember if we ever covered these beers individually for "BotW" consideration. Today, we rectify that, with one of our personal favorites. From that post, our tasting notes on Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome Ale: A creamy, honey-colored ale with a smooth malt......

There's a new absinthe on the market called Lucid that's catching on at places like the Violet Hour, Lumen, and Delilah's, namely because Lucid is the first Grande wormwood-based absinthe available in the States since before Prohibition. Now, we've tried the "green fairy" and it was an experience we'll never forget, so we researched Lucid for details on how much thujone (the active ingredient from wormwood) it carries. Turns out, not much at all: under......

'Tis the season for free champagne tastings. Get started tonight at the Artisan Cellar (located on the first floor of the Merchandise Mart) with a sample of some rare bubblies from 4-6 p.m. Learn all about the history of smothered foods from author Wilbert Jones, the author of Smothered Southern Foods. Jones' lecture, "Smothered - Southern Style" is being held Saturday at the Chicago History Museum, sponsored by the Culinary Historians of Chicago. The lecture......

We were downstairs at our neighbors' a couple weeks back, drinking bloody marys before the Bears-Broncos game while we were making chicken stock for soup. Normally, we make a killer bloody mary. But on this occasion we were missing something. Turned out that our neighbor had the cure-all: a good beer chaser. She had been to Sam's earlier in the week and picked up some selections from Ridgeway Brewing, and the first bottle she opened......

Saturday night was a good night to stay in, preferably close to the fireplace (that is, if you're lucky enough to have one). So we popped some W.C. Fields in the dvd player, made some gnocchi with spicy pasta sauce (more on that tomorrow) and opened up a bottle of wine. The bottle we picked was something that held up to both the weight of the gnocchi, the spice of the sauce, and the warmth......

Every last Friday of the month, the bartenders and servers at Kuma's Corner donate their night's tips to a worthy cause. Tonight, it's all going to Windy City Roller Tahira "Tequila Mockingbird" Johnson, who's still recovering from her injury over the summer. If you find yourself gorging on the "Hatebeak" or "Goblin Cock" this evening, please tip better than you usually do. Just in time for Hanukkah, local food writer Leah Zeldes will give a......

Hearts all across Chicago were broken last January when Zephyr closed its doors. We walked past its former space a few days ago and wouldn't you know, construction workers were busy building what looked to be another restaurant. Alas, it won't be Zephyr 2.0 but rather an Irish-style bar and restaurant (pictured), opening in March 2008 (to their best estimate). The workers didn't know what it was going to be called. New York Times writer......

When the weather turns, we tend to switch up our beer choices. Colder weather typically calls for heartier brews: monster ales, porters, and stouts. Now we love a good stout as much as anyone, but as someone with not a drop of Irish to be found in our genealogy, we like to explore the darkest of beers. Often, the sweet flavor and clingy, slightly sour finish in stouts comes from the addition of lactic acid......

It's Tuesday, it's cold, we're broke, and the 4-day holiday weekend already feels like it happened months ago. We need some cheering up 'round these parts. Luckily there are two excellent events that should warm our spirits without breaking our collective wallet. Cleo's on Armitage has been pushing their iTuesday events for a while now -- the idea being that local artists come in and iDJ for a while, followed by patrons with pre-loaded playlists......

We love a good bottle of wine almost as much as a great beer. But we're the type of person who buys a bottle, places it on the wine rack in our kitchen, and forgets about it. We have a much harder time keeping beer in stock. Last week we veered from the Thanksgiving norm and fixed ourselves a rare sirloin for dinner with caramelized onions, rosemary home-fried potatoes, and a red wine reduction (and......

Or, in honor of the start of holiday shopping season, we should probably christen this week's installment the "Black Friday Buffet". Anyway, let's get to it. West Lakeview Liquors weekly tastings will focus on Christmas ales (tonight) and whiskies (tomorrow). The French Wine Society is sponsoring a wine and cheese tasting at Taste Food & Wine in Rogers Park from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday. Cost is $30 for Wine Society members; $35 all others ChicaGourmets and......

One never needs an excuse to drink a selection from Unibroue. We're on record with our claim that the Quebec brewery is the best in North America, and it's because the quality of their brews is unsurpassed and of the highest standard of all we've sampled. Even their entry brews, like La Fin du Monde, would be considered a reserve line for another brewery. Maudite is one of our favorites. We're sticklers for balance: we......

This week's listings kick off this evening at Merchandise Mart with "Chill: an International Wine & Culinary Event" sponsored by Luxehome and Wine Spectator. Proceeds from the event benefit the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago. The event runs from 5 - 8 p.m. Chicago Professionals for Youth is committed to improving the lives of local underprivileged youth through literacy and mentoring programs, college preparation, job training and career skills assistance. Saturday they're hosting......

It's easy to forget that, with all the hype recently bestowed to the Violet Hour since it opened months ago (much of it warranted, we'll preface), that this city was already teeming with master mixologists before Toby Maloney blew back into town. Case in point, at the recent "Chicago Iron Bartender" competition, Sepia's Peter Vestinos beat out a packed field including Nacional 27's Adam Seger, Tim Lacey of Spring Restaurant Group, and Otom's James Macknyk......

In August we wrote about the possibility of Deerfield-based Fortune Brands Inc. losing the marketing rights to Absolut Vodka when the Swedish government eventually puts the state-owned distillery up for sale. At the time, it was a very strong possibility that Fortune Brands would lose the rights to a competitor as they were just beginning to pay down the debt accrued from the acquisition of 25 major brands from Allied Domecq. If Fortune Brands does......